NSPS Currently, there are 218 available surveying jobs listed on the NSPS website. If you have a job you want to post, or if you want to look for job openings, use this link: http://nsps.site-ym.com/networking/.

Tim Burch, NSPS SecretaryOver the past two years, I've been sharing my view on land surveying over a variety of topics. One of the constant themes I try to maintain is technological improvements and how surveyors need to continue to embrace new applications and equipment. While I will also argue that we cannot forget our surveying roots (see GPS World, March 2017), we still need to keep an eye on future technologies, means and methods to increase our productivity and profitability as well. With this idea of peeking at the road ahead, I traveled to Berlin, Germany, to cover Intergeo 2017, an international trade show for everything geospatial. READ MORE

NSPS
We hope you were able to listen to the NSPS Radio Hour this past Monday, November 6 to hear the interview with Tim Farrar. Tim is the principal for the firms Telecom, Media, and Finances Associates (TMF), and is very knowledgeable about all the issues related the issue known to we Surveyors as LightSquared (now known as Ligado). Tim provided a great deal of information about the future of the dialog related to use of spectrum for GPS and other uses.

Due to upcoming travel for the manager of the radio station on which the NSPS Radio Hour is broadcasted, replays of previous shows will be played for the next three Mondays (November 13, November 20 and November 27).
To listen to the current show, or archives of previous shows, visit americaswebradio.com/nsps-radio-hour. Click the "Play" arrow to on the "radio" to start streaming Audio of the current show on your computer.

Joe Dolan, PLS, NSPS Foundation ChairDue to an editing error, the portion of the NSPS Foundation article in last week's newsletter did not include the information about the Atwell Disaster Reief Fund which is shown immediately below. The Atwell Fund is another of the Foundation's programs to assist those in need, with specific focus on those with "health/medical disasters."

ATWELL MEDICAL RELIEF FUND
I know the Foundation has been asking you for Disaster Relief donations and that will continue! Today I am asking you for your help in replenishing the "Bonnie S. Atwell Medical Relief Fund." The Foundation has received two applications this past week for help. The two surveyors from different areas in the country are in desperate need of money. They are terminal! They can't work, pay their medical bills or provide for their families. When we make grants to these two surveyors the fund will be out of money! So far this year we have made grants to a number of surveyors for close to $20,000.00. The next applicant will not receive a penny! Unless you make donations! Please don't force me to say NO! WE need your help! Please Give! Mark your tax deductible contribution Atwell Fund.

HURRICANE HARVEY, IRMA and MARIA/TEXAS, FLORIDA, LOUISIANA & PUERTO RICO FLOODING/WESTERN WILDFIRES
Since my last article we have received requests from the California wildfire victims, more applications from Florida and our first one from Puerto Rico.

Because of the number of grant requests we have received, the Trustees were forced to set a cap on the grants we will award going forward. The grants we have made have severely depleted our fund. I am very disappointed that we had to take this step. Please help us rescind this action! Your Foundation needs donations! We need money to replenish our Disaster Relief Fund! Please be as generous as possible with your donations. Please send whatever you can afford. We will gratefully accept any donation you can make! The need is not going to go away anytime soon!

Ask your state chapter to make a donation! Some chapters are stepping up with $500.00 donations. If all the state affiliate chapters did that we would be in a much better position than we are currently in.

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In the News: "How Will Climate Change Impact Future Floods and Flood Insurance?" and "Updates to the Standards and Guidance for FEMA's Risk Mapping, Assessment and Planning (Risk MAP) Program Have Been Delayed Until February 2018"
Real Estate Corner: "Home Sellers Should Disclose Flood History and Risk to Buyers"

NSPSThe Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, H.R. 1, the tax reform and reduction bill introduced in Congress last week preserves cash accounting for certain firms, including those in surveying and mapping. When Congress considered the last major tax bill, in 1986, ACSM (the NSPS predecessor) worked with a coalition in the A/E community to preserve cash based accounting for certain professional service firms. Language preserving cash (versus accrual) as an option was included in the 1986 Act. Congress specifically mentioned surveying and mapping and that is included in current tax regulations. At that time, ACSM was involved in a study that found that as much as 1/3 of an A/E firm's revenue was in accounts receivable at any point in time. If that point in time was the end of the firm's tax year, and the firm was legally required to use accrual accounting, then the firm would have to pay tax on income – 1/3 of its annual revenue – not yet realized, and in some cases, income that would never be realized. This was viewed as a great burden on small A/E firms, including those in surveying and mapping. This argument helped save the day for A/E/S/M firms' ability to continue to use cash accounting in the 1986 tax reform bill that became law. In recent years, NSPS’s federal government affairs consultant, John M. Palatiello & Associates, Inc., continued to keep Congress informed of this important tax provision. In a victory for NSPS, the 2017 tax bill released last week makes no changes to accounting rules affecting surveying firms.

NSPSThe House Committee on Natural Resources held a hearing last week on H.R. 221, the Hydrographic Services Improvement Amendments (HSIA) Act, sponsored by Rep. Don Young (R-AK). The bill reauthorizes the Hydrographic Services Improvement Act of 1998, governing the hydrography and nautical charting program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and in doing so, authorizes $5 million to acquire hydrographic data, provide hydrographic services, conduct coastal change analyses necessary to ensure safe navigation, and improve the management of coastal change in the Arctic; and $2 million to acquire hydrographic data and provide hydrographic services in the Arctic necessary to delineate the United States extended Continental Shelf.

NSPSNSPS Government affairs consultant John Palatiello joined Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chou, Federal Aviation Administrator Michael Huerta, and other officials at the unveiling of a pilot program of projects to test relaxed regulations governing the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), also known as drones. At the Drone Integration Pilot Program launch, Michael Kratsios, Deputy Assistant to the President in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the White House, cited surveyors among the key stakeholders who will benefit from the program. The program will award grants to state, local, and tribal governments who partner with private sector entities, such as UAS operators or manufacturers, to accelerate safe UAS integration by testing operations such as flying over people, beyond visual line of site, and in other situations currently prohibited by regulation in order to gain experience and gather data on new, relaxed regulations.

Become a Certified Survey Technician (CST)No matter what the future holds, prepare to meet challenges head on. Future-proof your resume by becoming a Certified Survey Technician (CST). This unique four-level certification program indicates official recognition by NSPS that a person can perform surveying tasks at a specific technical level.

Show what you can do! Decide between the field or office track. Visit www.nsps.us.com for details.

NCEESBeginning January 1, 2018, NCEES is reducing the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) and Fundamentals of Surveying (FS) exam registration fees by $50 to $175. The reduced fee will apply to registrations completed on or after this date; the new price will not be honored for registrations completed before January 1, 2018.

NCEES member boards voted to lower the price of these exams at the organization's 95th annual meeting in August 2016.

The FE exam is the first of two exams required for professional engineering licensure; it is designed to test students' knowledge of concepts learned while earning an accredited bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline. The FS exam is a similar exam designed for surveying licensure candidates. These exams are currently taken by nearly 47,000 examinees throughout the United States and 15 foreign locations annually. They are computer-based exams administered throughout the year at Pearson VUE test centers.

"NCEES and its member boards are committed to reducing barriers to licensure," NCEES Chief Executive Officer Jerry Carter explained. "Moving to year-round computer-based testing for these exams, which gives candidates greater scheduling flexibility, was an important part of those measures. The organization is taking the additional step of lowering the price of the fundamentals exams to ensure that cost is not a prohibitive factor in starting on the path to licensure."

GPS WorldU.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao provided further details of the department's new Drone Integration Pilot Program at a public event held at the U.S. Department of Transportation headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Chao was joined by hundreds of drone operators, industry leaders, members of the public, law enforcement and first responders, and local, state, tribal and federal officials.READ MORE

GCNTo help with response and recovery efforts after September's hurricanes, scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a method that leverages satellite imaging data from extremely specific local areas to help response teams assess properties damaged by the storms.
ORNL geospatial experts used high-resolution satellite and aerial image data to extract building outlines and roadways in areas prone to flooding. READ MORE

Technical.lyThe Library of Congress is going to the map next week.
Geographic Information Systems Day, or GIS Day, returns Nov. 14. The Library of Congress will celebrate the annual library symposium on geographic technology event with a full day talking about maps and 21st century careers in mapmaking.
Congressman Mark Takano (D-CA), a member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, will deliver the keynote address.READ MORE

StateScoopThe National States Geographic Information Council is launching a campaign to help state and local governments improve map data pertaining to elections.
The two-year project, dubbed GeoElections, aims to use geospatial information systems to give the public more detailed information about political and precinct boundaries, in order for voters to be more informed about what ballot issues apply to them.READ MORE

Point of BeginningThe intent of deeds, contracts and legislative acts are common sources of dispute between surveyors and other land use professionals. While Justice Thomas Cooley of Michigan is often quoted for relevant land surveying concepts and legal aspects of boundary retracement, many other judges have made contributions that are equally important.
Judge Learned Hand of New York provides food for thought on proper interpretation of documents.READ MORE

Inside GNSS The Space and Missile Systems Center announced that the United States Air Force has accepted delivery of the Global Positioning System Next Generation Operational Control System Launch and Checkout System baseline from Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems.
Also known as Block 0, LCS demonstrated conformance through test and analysis with all contractual requirements. READ MORE

The Associated Press via ABC News China has added two satellites to its homegrown global navigation and positioning network that seeks to reduce reliance on the U.S.-based Global Positioning System, state media reported.
The pair of Beidou-3 satellites were launched aboard a single Long March-3B rocket from the Xichang launch center in the southwestern province of Sichuan, broadcaster CCTV and the Xinhua News Agency reported.READ MORE